Expedition to Cho Oyu – the Turquoise Goddess

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Langtang

The advance team made it back to Kathmandu yesterday, August 28th, after a successful trip to Langtang. As expected the weather was a mixed bag but we still got to experience some of the best Langtang has to offer and thoroughly enjoyed our trek. ‘Mother Nature’ put on quite a show on more than one occasion and especially the multitude of wild flowers was something to behold….

The day we departed Kathmandu for Syarbru Besi turned out to be quite the road trip and it took the combined efforts of a 3 1/2hr car trip, a 2 hour walk, a 30min bus ride and finally a 45min 4WD before we reached our destination…. A sign at one of the numerous landslide sites proclaimed “Man At Work – Drive Slowly” – we all agreed it was impossible to identify exactly which of the 7 guys hanging around was actually supposed to be doing any shovelling….

Our trek took us from Syarbru Besi to Lama Hotel, Langtang village and finally Kyanjin Gompa (the highest settlement in the valley) over 3 days. As part of our acclimatisation for Cho Oyu we had organised to camp for 2 nights on a nearby peak – Tsergo Ri @ 4983m. From there we had fantastic views of nearby Yala Peak, Naya Kanga, Langtang Lirung and the Ganja La pass.

Returning back down the valley we bumped in to our lodge owner from Langtang village. “I’m going to Kyanjin Gompa to get some butter…” he said – fair enough we thought as there’s a Yak cheese factory there and it wasn’t until the next morning while settling the bill with his wife down in Langtang we discovered that not only was he getting butter – he was also catching up with his 2nd wife…! The men of Langtang – it turns out – are allowed up to 3 wifes.

Back in Kathmandu we’ve been busy doing our laundry and packing for Cho Oyu. All the team members have arrived and we’re heading out for our first meal together this evening.